Disco Balls Don't Always Shine
by ProtegoNox
Summary: Moments between the four Marauders are always fun and mischievous, but on this New Year's Eve, not everything is as it seems. In response to a competition on a forum. 'Remus's heart didn't shatter, but he wished it had.' .:RLSB:.


**A.N.: **_This fic was written for a oneshot competition on a forum I belong to (heart and soul!). The link to that forum is on my profile, if you're curious. In all seriousness, however, I had this idea a long time ago and the competition only pushed me to write it. Happy New Year to everyone! Here's to hoping yours went better than this..._

**Disclaimer:** _The Characters and the situations of Harry Potter depicted on this website are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloosmbury, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended._

* * *

"A disco ball."

"Yeah."

James, sitting cross-legged on his bed, scrunched his nose, staring down into the box on his lap. "What in Merlin's name ever possessed you to buy me a disco ball?"

Sirius, the image of graceful carelessness while lounging on his own bed, shrugged and lazily turned the page of his book. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Why?" exclaimed James disbelievingly, picking up the shimmering orb.

Again, Sirius shrugged. "Well, it's a Muggle thing, isn't it? What with you finally dating Lily, and her being a Muggleborn, I thought maybe you'd find a use for it at some point, whatever it does."

"Muggles use them during balls and such by shining a light on it," explained Remus, who sat on the floor between their beds, frowning down at his essay. Piles of open books surrounded him. "To create a romantic atmosphere, normally. Hold it up, James."

James did as he was told and Remus muttered a soft 'lumos'. The light at the end of his wand shone towards the disco ball and suddenly, little spots of light danced around their dorm room. Peter entered the dorm at that moment and stopped to stare at the lights.

"Well, this is one way to welcome a Marauder," he laughed. He set the Invisibility cloak on James's trunk. "Playing with Muggle objects again?"

"It's a late Christmas gift from Sirius," said James in awe. Peter threw cookies at each of them, and only Remus didn't catch his, which fell right on his essay. "According to Sirius, and I quote, 'Santa got fucking loaded, and simply forgot about you, Potter, the bastard'."

"I also said he was having it on with the Tooth Fairy in the back of his sleigh," added Sirius with a cheeky grin. "It's a really important detail. Everyone knows how fit the Tooth Fairy is."

"Whatever you say."

"I always thought the Tooth Fairy was a man, for some reason," said Remus distractedly.

"You would," said Sirius.

James ran a hand through his untidy hair and smirked. "You know, this disco ball thing does open up new scenario possibilities between Lily and me..." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. Sirius threw a pillow at him.

"I wouldn't push my luck with Lily," advised Remus. "You just started dating her!"

"I'm just saying, there's nothing wrong with planning ahead," said James defensively.

"Either way, I'd be careful with that, James. Some Muggles find disco balls a bit cliché," warned the werewolf with a small smile.

"Actually, I think Lily would be rather amazed James even knows they exist," countered Peter, biting into his chocolate chip cookie.

"That's the spirit!" said James happily. He threw Sirius's pillow back at him. The Black heir caught it with one hand, not looking up from his book.

Remus sighed and shook his head. He pushed his essay away from himself and stood. "Fuck it," he said, stretching. His patched sweater rose to reveal a few inches of his scarred stomach. "I can't be bothered to finish this."

"I should hope not," snorted Sirius. "It's New Year's Eve, therefore not the time to do work of any sort."

"Then why are you reading, Padfoot?" asked Peter.

"It's obviously not a textbook," teased Remus.

"Obviously. It's Marlene McKinnon's diary," said Sirius nonchalantly. "You have no idea how much this bird complains about her hair. 'Oh diary, my hair looks like a bird's nest again' and 'I wish I had hair like Lily'," he said dramatically in his best imitation.

"Now that you mention it, she does have hair like a bird's nest," smirked Peter.

"You really shouldn't be reading her diary, Sirius," admonished Remus. "They're her private thoughts."

"Look here! She thinks you have a nice arse, Remus," grinned Padfoot, pointing down to a spot on the page. "You should give her a go some time."

Remus's mind didn't know which information to process first. "She... uh... what?"

"Come on, Moony, even you can admit she's a pretty fit bird," said Sirius, exasperated.

"Even with the bird's nest for hair," chuckled James. "I swear, she's got to be housing the Easter Bunny and his entire stash of eggs in that thing."

"You know what they say about bunnies…" smirked Sirius.

"She manages to tame it sometimes," said Peter fairly.

Remus shook his head. It didn't matter if Marlene thought he had a nice arse, or if she had bird's nest for hair or if she could tame it at times. She could be the kindest, hottest, sexiest, smartest girl in all of Hogwarts, Remus still wouldn't date her. Or, as Sirius so crudely put it, 'give her a go'.

"Sirius, you know I couldn't possibly court Marlene," answered Remus, picking up his books.

"For fuck's sake, Remus, I'm not telling you to marry her!" laughed Sirius. "Just take her out some time on a Hogsmeade weekend, and then for a snog in a broom closet."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I don't date," he said forcefully.

"You really need to loosen up, mate," sighed Sirius, closing the diary and placing it in his bedside table's drawer. "A rough shag would do you good."

Remus settled on ignoring Sirius. He set his books on a nearby chair and stored his essay in his trunk. He proceeded to lie down on his bed, folding his arms behind his head.

"Is it because of the whole werewolf thing you don't date, Moony?" said Sirius lazily from across the room.

"Drop it, Sirius," said James quietly.

"As if you aren't a bit curious, Prongs," grinned Sirius.

"For once in your life, Sirius, don't push it," hissed Remus. He heard Sirius bite back a laugh and take Marlene's diary out again.

Remus sighed, the laughter and happiness from earlier gone from his body. His brow furrowed together and he resisted the urge to sigh again. He could almost _smell_ Sirius's scent from his bed. It was driving him insane. The slow, painful torture of temptation.

He closed his eyes. _It'll go away,_ he thought. _It has to._

There was a rapid knock on the door and Frank Longbottom rushed in. "The Prewett brothers are starting some sort of New Year's party downstairs. You have got to see their new stock of Dr. Filibuster's Fireworks!"

"No joke? Filibuster?" asked Peter as James put the disco ball away.

"Yeah, I know," breathed Frank. "I'm surprised McGonagall hasn't shown up yet."

"I wouldn't worry so much about old Minnie tonight if I were you, mates," said Sirius, running a hand through his black hair. He tucked the diary under his pillow for safe keeping.

"You haven't done anything to her, have you?" said James, frowning as he straightened out his robes.

"Nothing I can get in trouble over," winked Sirius towards his messy-haired friend. He followed Peter, Frank and James as they headed downstairs. "You coming, you old sod?"

"In a minute," yawned Remus. "I think I'm going to enjoy the silence of this dorm for a little while," he grinned at Padfoot. "I can never get a moment's peace when you're here."

"At least I know my work here is done," said Sirius, looking mischievously at him. "Don't be too long, or I'll send Marlene up to ravish you senseless. Or, if you rather, use the time for a proper wank!"

Remus grunted as Sirius left the dorm laughing. To his dismay, the dog Animagus left the door open, through which sounds of the party reached the werewolf's ear. It didn't matter that Remus wished Sirius would ravish him senseless himself. He groaned as thoughts of Sirius flittered in and out of his mind's eye. He rose to his feet and went down to the common room.

A small blue firework dragon sped past him up the boys' dormitory stairs and he stepped down carefully to the sound of loud cheering. "He made it! Told you he'd come," said Sirius, his arm draped loosely around the waist of Mary McDonald. He held a bottle of Firewhiskey in his other hand.

Peter was absorbed in a chess game with Lily, who sat on James's lap. While Lily had the upper hand, the look in Peter's eyes told Remus he had a move that would win him the game. Remus stuffed his hands in his pockets and made a beeline for a sofa near the fireplace. Next to the window, enchanted music instruments played a soft tune.

Watching Sirius flirt with Mary from the corner of his eye, he didn't notice Marlene sit next to him until the sofa sank. "What took you so long to come down, Remus?" she said brightly. A sparkly purple party hat with a yellow pompom sat crookedly on her large mane of curly brown hair. If Remus thought it mattered, he would have said her hair looked quite tame.

"I was feeling a bit under the weather, I'm afraid," he said politely. The full moon was in three days, the first of the New Year, so it wasn't entirely a lie.

"Oh, I do hope you feel better now!" she said sincerely. "Would you like to go lie down? I can cover for you if you like."

Remus smiled at her. "No, I'm feeling much better. Thank you for the offer anyway."

She dismissed his thanks with a wave of her hand. "Think nothing of it," she smiled. "You always look a bit peaky."

"I have a very weak immune system," he explained untruthfully. At her blank look, he explained. "I get sick very easily. It's a Muggle explanation."

"I see. Well, how about a drink?" she offered, a pink blush on her cheeks. Remus glanced at Sirius, who was whispering in Mary's ear with a grin on his face. Sirius nodded his chin towards Marlene and winked at him.

"A Butterbeer would be nice."

When she returned, Remus tried his best to ignore the Prewett brothers' loud antics and Sirius's flirtatious behaviour. He managed to block out the Prewetts; Sirius was a different matter entirely. Remus's stomach lurched often and when Marlene inquired about his health, he lied again.

Marlene was pleasant company. She had a nice laugh. She talked quietly and seeing as she never was someone to beat around the bush despite her soft character, the conversation soon turned to relationships, or rather, his lack of them.

"I've never even seen you take anyone to Hogsmeade!" she laughed, sipping her Firewhiskey. "You're always with James, Peter or Sirius."

"I'm reluctant to take anyone there in the romantic sense," he answered honestly. To his surprise, the few bottles of Butterbeer had warmed his body better than the fireplace and they had loosened his tongue. Marlene sipped her Firewhiskey carefully, her round cheeks glowing red.

She rested her head back on the sofa, her wild hair falling out of its bun. "And why is that?" she said, looking up at him through her thick eyelashes.

He turned away from her twinkling eyes to stare at the dying embers of the fire. A cube of ice settled in his chest. "Because none of them are Sirius," he whispered to himself.

"What was that?" she asked, taking a large swig from her bottle.

"Because I am serious," he changed, "about my studies. I can't afford to be distracted by something as nonsensical as romance or any of that rubbish."

As he said that, he couldn't help but think it wouldn't be rubbish if things were different. If he wasn't a lycanthrope... if he wasn't obsessed with the idea of Sirius being his...

"Oh, Remus, only you could say something like that and not sound full of yourself," she giggled, leaning her head towards him and finishing off her drink.

He stiffened and checked his watch. "It's almost midnight," he said. "Come on."

She giggled when he took her hand to pull her up. "Remus, you are such a gentleman," she said, in a tone louder than her usual voice. "Did you know that?"

He ignored her rambles and slid his arm around her waist to support her as Fabian led the Gryffindor common room in an atrociously loud countdown. Remus glanced at Peter, standing in between the Prewett duo, chanting the numbers happily. James and Lily weren't even paying attention to anyone other than each other, kissing occasionally. Knowing no one was watching him, Remus kept his gaze fixated on Sirius as his friend whooped with the rest and kissed Mary McDonald passionately.

Remus's heart didn't shatter, but he wished it had. That way, he wouldn't have to feel it pound forcefully against his rib cage, or how it twisted and convulsed as if it were the full moon. He hardly registered Marlene's shy kiss on his scarred cheek over the hammering of his heart.

He watched Sirius break away from Mary, who ran her slender hands over his chest seductively. He watched as she led him slowly towards the boys' dorm stairs. He watched as Sirius turned, gave him a thumbs up and followed her quickly.

Remus closed his eyes, unclenched his fists and sighed.


End file.
